Hickory Corners, Michigan
By ALISON SOLTAU AND SAMANTHA CHAPNICK
In unincorporated Hickory Corners, a rural community in car-obsessed Michigan, the cash crops are cherries, blueberries, corn and cannabis, SUVs outnumber sedans and allegiance to one of the state’s homegrown Big Three car companies (General Motors, DaimlerChrysler and Ford) is inherited.
Kids drive combine harvesters across manure-perfumed fields, dreaming about Hemi and Vortec engines, before shifting gears to All-Terrain Vehicles, graduating to the family’s Chevy Suburban or Dodge Durango around age 12. Pithy putdowns for rival carmakers are learned from a young age. (Ford, as GM devotees will tell you, stands for “Found On the Road, Dead.”)
This pit stop off of the M-43, 12 miles northwest of Battle Creek, and halfway between Chicago and Detroit, is so tiny that some Michigan road maps forget to mention it. That’s surprising, given that Hickory Corners’ chief attraction is the Gilmore Car Museum, which has one of the most diverse collections of antique and classic cars in the United States and the largest such collection in the Midwest.
The Museum is a glimpse through the rear view mirror at the glory days of the U.S. auto industry, before Chrysler became DaimlerChrysler, rising gas prices drove Americans to (gasp!) fuel-efficient cars, and Japanese upstarts Toyota and Honda zoomed into the domestic market, threatening to leave the Big Three tangled in a three-car pileup.
The Museum’s more than 200 cars are parked in rustic red barns on 90 green acres, and the museum includes the 25-car collection of the Classic Car Club of America. Gilmore’s collection ranges from an 1899 Locomobile Steam Carriage with kerosene-lamps for headlights to a 1967 Ferrari once owned by actor Nicholas Cage and a 1982 Delorean like the one featured in the “Back to the Future” movies.
The cars range from an early mass-market car (a Ford Model T) to the elite (a 1929 Duesenberg Dual Cowl Phaeton, now valued around $1.7 million). A couple of exhibits point to historic firsts: there’s a 1903 Columbia Electric Runabout with leather fenders, similar to one Teddy Roosevelt drove as the first U.S. president to get behind the wheel. And from May, a permanent exhibit will document the mother of all road trips – the 1909 journey where New Jersey “housewife” Alice Ramsey became the first woman to drive across the continental United States, clocking 3,800 miles in 59 days (try that, Danica Patrick). The gutsy Ramsey made the trip despite doctors’ concerns that women drivers risked developing a condition known as “automobile face” – a perpetually open mouth caused by exposure to the wind.
America’s tradition of automotive ingenuity sputtered to a halt after Pearl Harbor, as the nation geared up for war. But the rare 1948 Tucker, (Gilmore has one of the 50 Tuckers produced), helped kick-start the flagging industry. The Tucker debuted safety features that are mandatory today, such as a pop-out windshield, a padded dash and a collapsible steering column.
Kids drive combine harvesters across manure-perfumed fields, dreaming about Hemi and Vortec engines, before shifting gears to All-Terrain Vehicles, graduating to the family’s Chevy Suburban or Dodge Durango around age 12. Pithy putdowns for rival carmakers are learned from a young age. (Ford, as GM devotees will tell you, stands for “Found On the Road, Dead.”)
This pit stop off of the M-43, 12 miles northwest of Battle Creek, and halfway between Chicago and Detroit, is so tiny that some Michigan road maps forget to mention it. That’s surprising, given that Hickory Corners’ chief attraction is the Gilmore Car Museum, which has one of the most diverse collections of antique and classic cars in the United States and the largest such collection in the Midwest.
The Museum is a glimpse through the rear view mirror at the glory days of the U.S. auto industry, before Chrysler became DaimlerChrysler, rising gas prices drove Americans to (gasp!) fuel-efficient cars, and Japanese upstarts Toyota and Honda zoomed into the domestic market, threatening to leave the Big Three tangled in a three-car pileup.
The Museum’s more than 200 cars are parked in rustic red barns on 90 green acres, and the museum includes the 25-car collection of the Classic Car Club of America. Gilmore’s collection ranges from an 1899 Locomobile Steam Carriage with kerosene-lamps for headlights to a 1967 Ferrari once owned by actor Nicholas Cage and a 1982 Delorean like the one featured in the “Back to the Future” movies.
The cars range from an early mass-market car (a Ford Model T) to the elite (a 1929 Duesenberg Dual Cowl Phaeton, now valued around $1.7 million). A couple of exhibits point to historic firsts: there’s a 1903 Columbia Electric Runabout with leather fenders, similar to one Teddy Roosevelt drove as the first U.S. president to get behind the wheel. And from May, a permanent exhibit will document the mother of all road trips – the 1909 journey where New Jersey “housewife” Alice Ramsey became the first woman to drive across the continental United States, clocking 3,800 miles in 59 days (try that, Danica Patrick). The gutsy Ramsey made the trip despite doctors’ concerns that women drivers risked developing a condition known as “automobile face” – a perpetually open mouth caused by exposure to the wind.
America’s tradition of automotive ingenuity sputtered to a halt after Pearl Harbor, as the nation geared up for war. But the rare 1948 Tucker, (Gilmore has one of the 50 Tuckers produced), helped kick-start the flagging industry. The Tucker debuted safety features that are mandatory today, such as a pop-out windshield, a padded dash and a collapsible steering column.
The post-war mood of cashed-up confidence is reflected in the sexy chrome grills and side trim, lean bodies and sharp fins of cars in Gilmore’s collection of flashy classic ‘50s and ‘60s rides, including a white 1959 Cadillac El Dorado Biarritz Convertible. The Museum also displays a bunch of powerful ‘60s and ‘70s muscle cars, such as the Pontiac GTO. Through summer 2007, the “Michigan Dream Garage – Ultimate Muscle Car” exhibition will feature 25 of the world’s rare muscle cars, including six authentic Yenkos.
The muscle car exhibition is one of 10 or more differently themed shows scheduled for 2007. A local car club hosts an annual one-day show for street rods and ‘50s cars in August, called the Elvis Memorial Car Show & Tribute Concert (Hickory Corners is located in Barry Township, where, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, 97.56 percent of the population is white and believes The King is alive and kicking).
On another nostalgic note, the Museum’s restored 1940s diner serves Coney dogs, apple pies and old school sodas such as Green River and Orange Crush in glass bottles.
Through summer, “Wednesday Night Cruise-Ins” at the diner attract enthusiasts restoring Cadillacs, Oldsmobiles and T-Birds. Folks who don’t own a vintage car tend to roll up in whatever they’re driving at the time – be it a tractor, a military jeep, or whatever.
After all, this is southwest Michigan, where your wheels aren’t merely a mode of transport, but a big part of your identity. And if that’s true, what should we make of the canary-yellow Hummer, the Dodge Ram pick-up bearing a Confederate flag and the white hearse with flames painted on the side – all seen recently on the streets of Hickory Corners and surrounding communities?
Road trip log book: Gilmore Car Museum is at 6865 W Hickory Rd. at the M-43 (or set the GPS to 42 6.526’ W 85 25.350’.) The Museum is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday from May 1 through October 31. Admission is $9 for adults, $8 for AA members and people aged 62 or older, and $7 for students aged seven to 15. Group rates are available. Kids under seven are admitted free. Phone: 269-671-5089. Web: www.GilmoreCarMuseum.org.
Detours: Hickory Corners’ main (and only) drag is at West Hickory Road and South Kellogg School Road. It’s a stone’s throw from Gilmore Car Museum, but why walk there when you could drive? Hickory Timber Inn, at 14576 S Kellogg School Rd, is open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. Phone: 269-671-4996. The Inn serves burgers, salads, pastas and seafood. Think friendly service amid pine walls, brown laminate booths, gumball machines, and colorful wilderness landscapes on the walls; with country music star Alan Jackson on the radio. Complimentary cassettes of Christian sermons are available in a box by the door. Hickory Hollow Antiques, at 14560 S Kellogg School Rd., is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday or by appointment from May 1 through October 31. Phone: 269-671-4222. The store sells antique, vintage and collectible items.
The muscle car exhibition is one of 10 or more differently themed shows scheduled for 2007. A local car club hosts an annual one-day show for street rods and ‘50s cars in August, called the Elvis Memorial Car Show & Tribute Concert (Hickory Corners is located in Barry Township, where, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, 97.56 percent of the population is white and believes The King is alive and kicking).
On another nostalgic note, the Museum’s restored 1940s diner serves Coney dogs, apple pies and old school sodas such as Green River and Orange Crush in glass bottles.
Through summer, “Wednesday Night Cruise-Ins” at the diner attract enthusiasts restoring Cadillacs, Oldsmobiles and T-Birds. Folks who don’t own a vintage car tend to roll up in whatever they’re driving at the time – be it a tractor, a military jeep, or whatever.
After all, this is southwest Michigan, where your wheels aren’t merely a mode of transport, but a big part of your identity. And if that’s true, what should we make of the canary-yellow Hummer, the Dodge Ram pick-up bearing a Confederate flag and the white hearse with flames painted on the side – all seen recently on the streets of Hickory Corners and surrounding communities?
Road trip log book: Gilmore Car Museum is at 6865 W Hickory Rd. at the M-43 (or set the GPS to 42 6.526’ W 85 25.350’.) The Museum is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday from May 1 through October 31. Admission is $9 for adults, $8 for AA members and people aged 62 or older, and $7 for students aged seven to 15. Group rates are available. Kids under seven are admitted free. Phone: 269-671-5089. Web: www.GilmoreCarMuseum.org.
Detours: Hickory Corners’ main (and only) drag is at West Hickory Road and South Kellogg School Road. It’s a stone’s throw from Gilmore Car Museum, but why walk there when you could drive? Hickory Timber Inn, at 14576 S Kellogg School Rd, is open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. Phone: 269-671-4996. The Inn serves burgers, salads, pastas and seafood. Think friendly service amid pine walls, brown laminate booths, gumball machines, and colorful wilderness landscapes on the walls; with country music star Alan Jackson on the radio. Complimentary cassettes of Christian sermons are available in a box by the door. Hickory Hollow Antiques, at 14560 S Kellogg School Rd., is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday or by appointment from May 1 through October 31. Phone: 269-671-4222. The store sells antique, vintage and collectible items.
